Yusuf Saad Kamel of Bahrain celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men's 1500m final (© Getty Images)
Berlin, GermanyIt is one thing to have an intuition you are going to win, but it is quite another to carry it out. Yusuf Saad Kamel of Bahrain woke on the Wednesday morning of the 1500m final in Berlin sensing gold was his and so it proved.
“When I woke up, I had been dreaming about winning and I thought, Oh, my God, I’m going to win this race.”
Kamel was a little behind with his dream, though, because his coach, Tariq Sabt, said he knew his charge was going to win a week earlier. For his final session in St. Moritz where he spent a month fine-tuning his preparation, Kamel did split repetitions of 700m, 500m and 300 with four minutes rest between each rep. He cruised the first part of each rep and then sprinted the final part. “For the last 300m of the 700m, for example, he covered it in 36.02sec and I knew then he was going to win this race,” recounted Sabt, standing outside the Berlin Olympic stadium with Kamel at his side.
Being a citizen of Bahrain since 2003 and a native of Kenya, where warm-weather training is a given, training in Switzerland is not all pleasure. “It is rainy and cold sometimes,” said Kamel, “but we manage it.” That, as it has turned out, is something of an understatement since it has produced a World championship gold medal.
Like Kamel, Sabt is now Bahraini, though he started off life as an Ethiopian. He learnt his coaching skills in Switzerland and is married to Maryam Jamal, who also trains with Kamel. Sabt has been living in Switzerland since 1995.
Earlier this year, Kamel, born Gregory Konchellah, was involved in a dispute with the Bahraini federation and there was a suggestion he would be re-seeking Kenyan citizenship. Kamel says now that “it was all a big misunderstanding. Everyone has the right to make a mistake once in his life and I can say now that it was a mistake. We (Kamel and the Bahraini federation) sat down and talked it through and came to an agreement. This medal was for my coach and my country and I have been told that the King is very happy too. It was a victory for Bahrain.”
Kamel is a peripatetic athlete who has also trained in Eldoret, Kenya, this year, but it was not a great success. “I was in Eldoret one month, but I suffered two bouts of malaria – it was very serious - and I got injured as well. I was there for a total of 65 days,” he said.
He speaks Swahili and “un poco Italiano,” as he told an Italian journalist who wanted to know about his five years in Italy where he has an Italian girlfriend called Silvia. He wore a bracelet bearing her name during the race. When he is not running, he returns to his home village of Narok in Kenya where he tends his wheat farm.
Kamel’s father is the former double World 800m champion, Billy Konchellah, who now lives in Finland. “I have visited him there and he is very happy there. He wanted to come here to see me run, but he couldn’t make it,” said Kamel.
What of the future on the track for Kamel? Despite just winning World gold, the 26-year-old, flanked by the silver and bronze medallists, was already mapping out the goals: “I am still not happy with my time at 800m,” said Kamal (1:42.79). “And I think I can run the 1500m easily in 3:28 or 3:29 if I train hard.” His current best is 3:31.56 from Monaco last month.
And what of the race? Never out of the top four, Kamel was badly boxed with 200m to go. What was he thinking? “It didn’t happen the way I expected,” said Kamel. “I thought it would be a fast race but when it was slow I waited to find a free spot.”
That spot opened up 100m from the finish and the Bahraini, like his father in both his World championship wins, accelerated smoothly to victory.
“I’m so happy, I can’t describe it,” said Kamel. And then he departed into the Berlin night to celebrate.
Michael Butcher for IAAF
“When I woke up, I had been dreaming about winning and I thought, Oh, my God, I’m going to win this race.”
Kamel was a little behind with his dream, though, because his coach, Tariq Sabt, said he knew his charge was going to win a week earlier. For his final session in St. Moritz where he spent a month fine-tuning his preparation, Kamel did split repetitions of 700m, 500m and 300 with four minutes rest between each rep. He cruised the first part of each rep and then sprinted the final part. “For the last 300m of the 700m, for example, he covered it in 36.02sec and I knew then he was going to win this race,” recounted Sabt, standing outside the Berlin Olympic stadium with Kamel at his side.
Being a citizen of Bahrain since 2003 and a native of Kenya, where warm-weather training is a given, training in Switzerland is not all pleasure. “It is rainy and cold sometimes,” said Kamel, “but we manage it.” That, as it has turned out, is something of an understatement since it has produced a World championship gold medal.
Like Kamel, Sabt is now Bahraini, though he started off life as an Ethiopian. He learnt his coaching skills in Switzerland and is married to Maryam Jamal, who also trains with Kamel. Sabt has been living in Switzerland since 1995.
Earlier this year, Kamel, born Gregory Konchellah, was involved in a dispute with the Bahraini federation and there was a suggestion he would be re-seeking Kenyan citizenship. Kamel says now that “it was all a big misunderstanding. Everyone has the right to make a mistake once in his life and I can say now that it was a mistake. We (Kamel and the Bahraini federation) sat down and talked it through and came to an agreement. This medal was for my coach and my country and I have been told that the King is very happy too. It was a victory for Bahrain.”
Kamel is a peripatetic athlete who has also trained in Eldoret, Kenya, this year, but it was not a great success. “I was in Eldoret one month, but I suffered two bouts of malaria – it was very serious - and I got injured as well. I was there for a total of 65 days,” he said.
He speaks Swahili and “un poco Italiano,” as he told an Italian journalist who wanted to know about his five years in Italy where he has an Italian girlfriend called Silvia. He wore a bracelet bearing her name during the race. When he is not running, he returns to his home village of Narok in Kenya where he tends his wheat farm.
Kamel’s father is the former double World 800m champion, Billy Konchellah, who now lives in Finland. “I have visited him there and he is very happy there. He wanted to come here to see me run, but he couldn’t make it,” said Kamel.
What of the future on the track for Kamel? Despite just winning World gold, the 26-year-old, flanked by the silver and bronze medallists, was already mapping out the goals: “I am still not happy with my time at 800m,” said Kamal (1:42.79). “And I think I can run the 1500m easily in 3:28 or 3:29 if I train hard.” His current best is 3:31.56 from Monaco last month.
And what of the race? Never out of the top four, Kamel was badly boxed with 200m to go. What was he thinking? “It didn’t happen the way I expected,” said Kamel. “I thought it would be a fast race but when it was slow I waited to find a free spot.”
That spot opened up 100m from the finish and the Bahraini, like his father in both his World championship wins, accelerated smoothly to victory.
“I’m so happy, I can’t describe it,” said Kamel. And then he departed into the Berlin night to celebrate.
Michael Butcher for IAAF
